UK wildfires reached a record level in 2026, prompting a warning from the chairwoman of the UK’s Climate Change Committee that more action is needed to prepare for the growing threat. Baroness Brown said lives could be lost unless the country improves its response to the increasing risk of fires.
The warning follows a record year for wildfires across England and Wales, with figures from the National Fire Chiefs Council showing 1,350 incidents in 2026. That was more than 300 higher than the previous year and more than 1,000 above the number recorded in 2024.
UK Wildfires Raise Climate Warning
Baroness Brown told BBC File on 4 Investigates that the UK had not taken enough action despite longstanding warnings about the impact of a changing climate. The Climate Change Committee, which was formed in 2008, warned as far back as 2012 that warmer and drier conditions could lead to more frequent wildfires.
She said the UK is “not prepared for the changing climate” and that the warnings had been given to the government for years. “I fear that lives will be lost. We need to be doing much more education and preparation,” she said.
Baroness Brown said preparation should include investment in specialist firefighting teams and equipment, as well as changes to woodland planning. She also highlighted the importance of fire breaks and early warning systems as part of efforts to manage wildfire risk UK-wide.
She said the risk of wildfires could double across much of the UK by 2050. Records for reported wildfires were also broken in 2022 and 2025, showing that the recent increase has come after several years of elevated fire activity.
2026 Wildfires Destroy Homes
The impact of the fires has already been felt by communities across the country. Earlier this year, one man died in a wildfire in Gloucestershire, while 19 homes were destroyed in Stourbridge near Birmingham and villagers were evacuated in the Cairngorms.
Uttam and Sandy Shiralkar are among those whose lives were changed by the fires. Their Stourbridge home was destroyed by a wildfire in August after fires began accidentally in fields while farming machinery was being used on the hottest day of the year.
Sandy, a surgeon, described the destruction of the property, saying: “We saw the complete destruction of the house. There was no roof, no floorboards. Nothing. No-one should have this experience.”
The couple are now living in temporary accommodation. Uttam said the loss of their home would have a lasting effect, adding: “Every loss is painful, but losing a house has got a different dimension. Coming back to normality is going to take a long time.”
Fire Crews Face Rising Pressure
The increase in UK wildfires has also placed additional pressure on fire and rescue services. At the same time that wildfire incidents are rising, the number of firefighters has declined.
Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said more than a fifth of firefighter and control room posts across the UK had been cut since 2010. He put the number of lost jobs at around 12,000 and said crews had been dangerously overstretched during the summer.
Firefighters from London were mobilised to Yorkshire, while crews from Merseyside were sent to Dorset, according to Wright. He said simultaneous wildfires across different parts of the UK meant there were not enough firefighters available on the ground to respond to every incident.
Government Invests in Wildfire Preparedness
The government said it was investing nearly £100m to improve national resilience capabilities, including a programme involving specially trained firefighting teams.
Phil Garrigan, chairman of the National Fire Chiefs Council, welcomed the £97m investment, which will provide six specialist firefighting teams operating across the UK. He said, however, that further funding was needed to improve aerial firefighting capabilities and specialist equipment.
The investment will also fund state-of-the-art equipment, including dedicated off-road vehicles. The government described the programme as the biggest upgrade to national resilience in 20 years.
Garrigan warned that funding would be important as the country approaches 2027 and 2028, given the likelihood of continued wildfire incidents. He said the UK needed to get ahead of the problem after more than 50 homes were lost and families were severely affected by wildfires in 2026.
